A wave of diplomatic protests followed an incident in Jenin in which Israeli troops fired warning shots near a delegation of foreign diplomats visiting the occupied West Bank. No injuries were reported, but governments condemned the danger posed to their representatives and demanded investigations or formal explanations from Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said the delegation had departed from an approved route and was approaching an area it was not authorised to enter. Troops fired into the air to move the visitors away, according to the military, which expressed regret for the inconvenience and said it would brief representatives of the countries involved after an internal inquiry.
The Palestinian Authority offered a sharply different account. It said the diplomats were making an official visit arranged with Palestinian officials to assess humanitarian conditions and observe the consequences of Israeli operations. The authority accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the group. Supplied reporting did not establish evidence resolving the competing accounts of the route or the troops’ intent.
Diplomats from more than 20 countries were reported to have taken part. BBC News listed Egypt, Jordan, Spain, Turkey, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom among the states represented. Ireland confirmed that two diplomats based in Ramallah were in the group. Video cited in other supplied reporting showed members of the delegation and accompanying journalists running as gunfire was heard.
France, Spain and Italy were among the governments saying they would summon Israeli ambassadors. Additional supplied accounts reported similar action or direct diplomatic protests by Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. Canada’s prime minister called for an immediate explanation, while Uruguay sought answers after one of its officials was reported to have been present.
Turkey demanded an immediate investigation and accountability, noting that an employee of its Jerusalem consulate joined the visit. The European Union’s foreign policy chief said threats to diplomats’ lives were unacceptable and called for those responsible to be held accountable. Egypt described the firing as a breach of diplomatic norms.
The confrontation occurred during an Israeli military operation in Jenin and other parts of the northern West Bank that began in January. Israel said the campaign targeted armed groups. The United Nations reported that 40,000 residents of refugee camps in the affected areas had been forcibly displaced after Israeli authorities ordered them to leave.
Although nobody was physically hurt in the delegation incident, the breadth of the response turned the shots into a significant diplomatic dispute. The requested investigations were expected to focus on the agreed route, the military’s warning procedures and how an official international visit came close to Israeli gunfire.
